CNN legal analyst Elie Honig said porn star Stormy Daniels’ responses to attorneys for former President Donald Trump were “disastrous” for the prosecution’s case.
Daniels testified Tuesday about her alleged relationship with Trump, providing salacious and irrelevant details that prompted Trump’s attorneys to move for a mistrial, which New York Judge Juan Merchan rejected. Honig said that the cross-examination of Daniels by Trump’s attorneys “went poorly” for Democratic Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. (RELATED: Jonathan Turley Says Trump Trial Judge ‘Lost Control’ Of Courtroom During Stormy Daniels Testimony)
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“Her responses were disastrous. I mean, ‘do you hate Donald Trump?’ Yes, of course she does,” Honig explained during a panel. “That‘s a big deal. When the witness hates the person who‘s liberty is at stake, that‘s a big damn deal. And she‘s putting out tweets, fantasizing about him being in jail. That really undermines the credibility.”
Former U.S. President Donald Trump watches as Stormy Daniels is questioned by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger during Trump’s criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in Manhattan state court in New York City, U.S. May 7, 2024 in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg
Honig noted that there were other red flags that emerged from cross-examination of the former porn star aside from her admitting her hatred of the former president.
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he arrives to Trump tower during the day of his trial over charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in New York City, U.S. , April 19, 2024. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
“The fact that she owes him $500,000, she, by order of a court, owes Donald Trump a half million dollars and said, ‘I will never pay him, I will defy a court order,’ the defense is going to say, ‘She‘s willing to defy a court order. She‘s not willing to respect an order of a judge. Why is she going to respect this oath she took?’” Honig said, “So I thought it went quite poorly on cross-exam. At the end of direct, I thought, ‘Okay, they got what they needed,’ but I think the cross is making real inroads.’”
Democratic Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted Trump on 34 felony counts related to his alleged falsification of business records around a $130,000 payout to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016.
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